Gibson named MVP as Team USA takes gold at world juniors

USA vs SWEDEN

Team USA goaltender John Gibson makes a save off Sweden's Elias Lindholm during first period gold medal hockey action at the IIHF World Junior Championships in Ufa, Russia, on Saturday.

USA vs SWEDEN

Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press

Team USA's Rocco Grimaldi (right) celebrates his first goal against Sweden with teammate Shayne Gostisbehere during second period gold medal hockey action at the IIHF World Junior Championships in Ufa, Russia, on Saturday.

USA vs SWEDEN

Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press

Sweden's Elias Lindholm is checked on to Team USA goaltender John Gibson by USA's Seth Jones during second period gold medal hockey action at the IIHF World Junior Championships in Ufa, Russia, on Saturday.

Two second period goals by speedster Rocco Grimaldi and another exceptional performance by goalie John Gibson helped vault the Americans to a 3-1 win over Sweden on Saturday in the world junior hockey championships.

Gibson, who plays for the Kitchener Rangers, was named tournament MVP.

Vince Trocheck scored into an empty net to secure the American win.

Filip Sandberg scored for Sweden, the defending champions.

The Americans last won gold in 2010. It’s the third gold for the U.S. in 10 years, second only to Canada (five) in that span. Russia won bronze earlier, beating Canada 6-5 in overtime.

Gibson was also named top goalie. Canadian captain Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was named top forward. American captain Jake McCabe was named top defenceman.

Team USA finished seventh in the tournament last year, but its roster was bolstered this year by a number of players – including defenceman Seth Jones – who have a history of winning big games.

While it was the first time Sweden played the U.S. in the final of the world junior tournament, the two national teams have developed quite the rivalry.

In fact, most of the U.S. roster has won gold three times – over Sweden each time – in recent years in under-18 and under-17 tournaments.